New York City - Transit News

[Nexis4Jersey]

LIRR Branch would be easier and faster , you could buy or retrofit existing trains into high capacity ones with space for luggage... The Current plan is a boondoogle and would overload the already at capacity 7 line...

[aquablue]

When you think about it, it's better than nothing.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by k1052

I believe this idea (and similar ones) was scotched when local residents objected to any rail line over that part of GCP due to it ruining the scenic nature of the road...

Which is even more ridiculous, considering that the Port Authority will now build an elevated structure over the actual scenic part of the road overlooking Flushing Bay. They are pushing that scheme despite neighborhood opposition (which they should do) but if they're gonna ignore the locals anyway, why not build something that's actually useful? The part through Astoria is a pretty typical sunken freeway, not exactly a beauty spot even though I am receptive to the idea that parkways can be valuable scenic amenities in certain cases.

Plus a subway extension would actually serve neighborhood residents esp. low-income ones, so you'd think lefty pols like the newly elected Rep. Ocasio-Cortez would be in favor of that plan versus a dedicated Midtown shuttle, or a shuttle to a shuttle, that only helps business travelers. Of course, for Gov. Cuomo it's a good thing that airport travelers wouldn't have to mix with the smelly plebs on the subway.

[Busy Bee]

The N should have been extended decades ago. Full stop. No need to debate it. The fact it wasn't, and for the reasons, is an embarrassment.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Which is even more ridiculous, considering that the Port Authority will now build an elevated structure over the actual scenic part of the road overlooking Flushing Bay. They are pushing that scheme despite neighborhood opposition (which they should do) but if they're gonna ignore the locals anyway, why not build something that's actually useful? The part through Astoria is a pretty typical sunken freeway, not exactly a beauty spot even though I am receptive to the idea that parkways can be valuable scenic amenities in certain cases.

Plus a subway extension would actually serve neighborhood residents esp. low-income ones, so you'd think lefty pols like the newly elected Rep. Ocasio-Cortez would be in favor of that plan versus a dedicated Midtown shuttle, or a shuttle to a shuttle, that only helps business travelers. Of course, for Gov. Cuomo it's a good thing that airport travelers wouldn't have to mix with the smelly plebs on the subway.

Cuomo really loves cutting the ribbon on shiny transportation baubles of excessive cost and low utility. An extension of the N from Astoria would certainly be less to his liking and would create a, probably small but vocal, number of angry opposers. With transportation planning in NY and NYC as crippled as it is why go though the aggravation when you can just spend more public money for something less useful to the citizenry?

If he cared at all De Blasio could push for such an extension but I'm not sure there is another human alive in NYC elected office that gives less of a shit about the subway than he does.

[aquablue]

I'm not sure how a crowded subway car packed like sardines and buskers rapping, etc would be a good idea for harried airport travelers with baggage. It wouldn't leave a very good impression on business travellers compared to other city's dedicated trian service. The best solution would have been a tunnel spur off the LIRR like the Heathrow Express in London and a dedicated train with special baggage storage compartments. If it doesn't get done in LGA, I propose that for JFK. Maybe they will get it done there. After seeing how these other globa cities do things, why should I expect less for NYC? If that's not feasable, maybe check out Musk's technology that he is implementing in Chicago. If it works, NYC could use it.

[manchester united]

Originally Posted by k1052

Somehow the LGA AirTrain will probably end up with 20-30 minute headways making the whole scheme even more of a joke.

Will be it 24/7?

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by aquablue

If that's not feasable, maybe check out Musk's technology that he is implementing in Chicago. If it works, NYC could use it.

There is no new technology. Musk's Chicago thing is a publicity stunt that will likely never break ground.

[dropdeaded209]

why do new yorkers put up with this? if NYC just screamed ENOUGH and ground the city to a halt the entire U.S. economy would lurch to a stop and the powers that be would suddenly find solutions to these transit problems.

[Qubert]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

The N should have been extended decades ago. Full stop. No need to debate it. The fact it wasn't, and for the reasons, is an embarrassment.

The N is already overburdened as it is. Astoria is in the midst of a full tilt building boom and the last thing anyone in this area wants is a family of tourists getting on with 3 Samsonite roll-ons each during rush hour.

That said, I don't support Cuomo's plan either. The smart play would be to have the Air Train run to Woodside-61st via the BQE

[Qubert]

Originally Posted by dropdeaded209

why do new yorkers put up with this? if NYC just screamed ENOUGH and ground the city to a halt the entire U.S. economy would lurch to a stop and the powers that be would suddenly find solutions to these transit problems.

Or the corporate powers that be simply shift operations to London, Tokyo, Dallas, or any other number of global corporate centers thereby diminishing NY's influence and QOL. Protests don't work for a reason.

The situation will change once it becomes an political/existential crisis the same way the city's finances were in the mid 1970s or the street crime situation in the early 1990s. Both are examples of an issue reaching critical mass then resulting in radical change. DeBlasio isn't motivated to care because it's not on his political bases' radar and besides he's got his second term. Cuomo is worried about getting through this governers race. We'll see if anyone is really focused on this come next year.

[aquablue]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

There is no new technology. Musk's Chicago thing is a publicity stunt that will likely never break ground.

Ok, I'll remember this post and we'll see what happens. Maybe you'll be right, maybe you won't.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

There is no new technology. Musk's Chicago thing is a publicity stunt that will likely never break ground.

I don't know, the guy has rocket boosters, ROCKET BOOSTERS detaching and landing themselves beside the Mother Ship. Even the 50's Sci-Fi movies never saw that coming.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by Qubert

The situation will change once it becomes an political/existential crisis the same way the city's finances were in the mid 1970s or the street crime situation in the early 1990s. Both are examples of an issue reaching critical mass then resulting in radical change. DeBlasio isn't motivated to care because it's not on his political bases' radar and besides he's got his second term. Cuomo is worried about getting through this governers race. We'll see if anyone is really focused on this come next year.

If this is going to come to a head at any point I think it's next year when they shut down the L between Brooklyn and Manhattan. If a major chunk of the remaining services that parallel it have any hiccup whatsoever (an ironclad guarantee) there will be total and massive chaos. Even if everything goes perfectly for an entire year I don't think the mitigation plans are going to cut it as is...

[scalziand]

Originally Posted by Dale

I don't know, the guy has rocket boosters, ROCKET BOOSTERS detaching and landing themselves beside the Mother Ship. Even the 50's Sci-Fi movies never saw that coming.

Musk actually had to use an old scifi b-movie with rockets landing on a barge as prior art to defend against a patent troll.

[aquablue]

The city needs, one seat rides to its airports. I would wait until this Musk thing pans out to see if there is potential with it for NYC. If it works at O'hare, it could work at JFK and LaGuardia. That's probably the only hope left for NY. There is no way that a one-seat-ride train is going to happen with conventional rail, there is just nowhere to put it and a regular tunnel would cost far too much for the likes of NYC, a city where transit funding does not flow like cheap wine. Nothing has happened with that Roackaway Branch line project in years and it looks like its nowhere near to happening.

The JFK airtrain to LIRR is not used enough, and most people still take cars jamming up the highways and bridges/tunnels. Why repeat these solutions when they are not good enough? Why repeat the same half assed mistakes of the past?

[M II A II R II K]

New York's Economic Future Rides on Its Subways PDF: https://www.manhattan-institute.org/...IB-NG-0718.pdf

.....

- New York City subway ridership has nearly doubled since its modern-day trough of 1977, when the subways carried 917.2 million riders, to the recent peak of nearly 1.8 billion in 2015. Yet subway ridership has not grown evenly across the city, nor has it grown fastest where jobs are concentrated. One commonality stands out among a myriad of contributors to the growth in subway ridership. As the number and share of New Yorkers in the labor force have grown, the number and share of those workers who rely on mass transit—especially the subway system—to get to their new jobs have also grown.

- Areas including the lower-income neighborhoods in the South Bronx, Central Harlem, and northern Brooklyn have regained or exceeded their population lows in the late 1970s. The new populations are more likely to be employed than residents one or two generations ago—and they would be unable to get to their jobs if it were not for a reliable transit system. Likewise, the city’s booming service sector, including its hospitality industry, could not succeed were it not for its access to this labor pool.

- Beginning in the 1980s, New York rebuilt its transit infrastructure. As a result, there was much extra capacity on subway trains in the next few decades to absorb new workers as the city’s population grew toward its mid-20th-century peak. Today, though, New York has no such extra capacity. Indeed, overall city ridership has declined slightly since 2016, because the trains—particularly for outer-borough commuters heading for destinations in Manhattan at peak hours—simply cannot fit more people.

- To protect the economic and social gains that have been made in the last several decades—and secure the future of the economy—state and city elected officials and policymakers will have to invest, and invest wisely, in additional subway, bus, ferry, and other transit capacity. Otherwise, they risk presiding over stagnant job growth and workforce participation that is independent of any cyclical recession.

.....

[Qubert]

Originally Posted by k1052

If this is going to come to a head at any point I think it's next year when they shut down the L between Brooklyn and Manhattan. If a major chunk of the remaining services that parallel it have any hiccup whatsoever (an ironclad guarantee) there will be total and massive chaos. Even if everything goes perfectly for an entire year I don't think the mitigation plans are going to cut it as is...

We've already witnessed some pretty spectacular meltdowns and the dithering continues. The problem is the subway is just such a given in NYC life that most people will just continue to accept an ever worsening situation as long is there is no large scale "event" (heaven forbid) like a mass-casualty derailment. Politically it's simply not on the radar. Here in the city you have your various assortment of usually left and lefter interest groups, single issue voters and ethnic/identity politicians who drive local governance here and as far as NYS is concerned everyone above Dutchess County could care less (heck, even LI to a degree isn't really vested in MTA issues)

[mrnyc]

due to demand six bigger nyc ferries are on the way.

they will hold 350.

current nyc ferries hold 150:

https://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-ferry-boats-1.19791311

[mrnyc]

nice tile tho


https://nypost.com/2018/07/22/cuomo-...anity-project/